DOOM (1993)

A Classic DOOM Review For First-time Players
I'll start off by saying that if you already love classic DOOM and you're looking to hear about the quality of the port: it's great. It comes with every official classic DOOM game/expansion that was ever released, it has lots of difficulty/control customization options, and it has built-in mod support. But I'm not here to talk about that.
Instead, this review is for people like myself, who have never played classic DOOM before and were introduced to the series through DOOM 2016/Eternal, or possibly even another shooter of the same nature like ULTRAKILL. If you're coming into this game expecting a similar experience to those games, then you're most likely going to be disappointed. Classic DOOM has a significantly different gameplay philosophy, and it took me far too long to realize that.
My Experience
I've tried getting into classic DOOM two times prior to this:
The first time was in early 2020 leading up to the release of DOOM Eternal, where I did a playthrough of both DOOM 1 and DOOM 2. I treated them like straightforward run and gun games; the same way I treated DOOM 2016. I sped through levels, mindlessly shooting whatever was in my way with no regard to how the levels were designed and no attempt to explore them. This led to many frustrating moments where I would run out of ammo completely, and question why ammo was so limited in a fast paced action FPS. I came out of it thinking the games were okay, but struggled to understand why they're so critically acclaimed aside from their massive impact on the genre.
The second time was in 2023, where I took a completely different approach to my playthrough in 2020. I explored each level as thoroughly as possible, hell bent on getting 100% kills and secrets. This resulted in the opposite issue: I was entering levels with an overabundance of health and ammo. This turned the game into the straightforward run and gun game that I was treating it as in 2020, except the simplicity of the combat made it feel uninteresting and repetitive. None of my exploration felt rewarding because it was unnecessary. I dropped DOOM 1 less than halfway through the game out of boredom, and dismissed classic DOOM as a primitive relic of the past that doesn't hold up compared to modern DOOM and similar releases.
This is no longer the case. Over the past month I've played through DOOM 1, DOOM 2, and The Plutonia Experiment, which has changed my perspective on the series completely. I want to explain what makes classic DOOM fun, because it's not as obvious as you might expect.
What Makes Classic DOOM Fun
First, I have an important recommendation. If my description of classic DOOM as run and gun games with simple combat doesn't bother you, then you're free to ignore this recommendation and disregard this review. But if you're looking for more than that and you want to experience this game at its best, then I strongly recommend you listen to what I'm about to say: pistol start every level. If you aren't already familiar, pistol starting means that you'll enter every level the same way that you enter the first level: 100% health, 0% armor, and nothing but a pistol with 50 bullets. When you select your difficulty, if you press tab then you'll be given the option to pistol start all levels. Levels are inherently designed around pistol start and frequently contain weapon pickups. The rest of this review will be written with pistol starting in mind, in which I'll also explain in more detail why I'm recommending it.
Let me get this out of the way: classic DOOM is not an action game in the same way that modern DOOM is.
Modern DOOM games are full blown action games that encourage you to be hyper aggressive: in both DOOM 2016 and DOOM Eternal, you have several means of regaining resources mid-fight, and it allows you to take on any fight in an extremely head on manner.
Classic DOOM on the other hand feels more like a hybrid of action and survival. Hitscanners capable of shredding your health make up a good portion of the enemies you'll be fighting, and you're going to be gaining health and ammo primarily through pickups scattered around levels. There will be moments where you're too low on health or ammo to be aggressive, and overcoming those moments is where classic DOOM shines.
Oftentimes you'll be in situations where you're running around a level like a madman, searching for a weapon or ammo while avoiding enemies that are actively pursuing you. Nothing beats moments where you're in a situation like that, and you come across a desperately needed shotgun pickup or a box of shells that enables you to properly fight back. This is why pistol starting levels is so important, as not pistol starting (mostly) strips you of these moments. When you're pistol starting each level, finding a weapon pickup feels so much more satisfying, and exploration/hunting for secrets becomes extremely rewarding. As you die during a level (which you likely will during more challenging levels), you'll become more aware of the level layout, and be able to plan your route in a way that lets you rebuild your arsenal more quickly and efficiently. These games have made me do more pre-planning than I think I ever have in a shooter before.
Creativity is heavily rewarded as well; there's no objectively correct way to approach a level, it's up to you through trial and error to figure out an approach that works for you. You can immediately dart towards a rocket launcher or plasma gun pickup on the other side of the map, strafing around enemies in your way then dealing with them after you grab it, you can pinpoint and save an invincibility powerup then use it to breeze through a difficult fight that you know is coming up, or you can run circles around enemies and get them to accidentally attack each other then start infighting, saving yourself ammo. Tons of possibilities.
Essentially, what I'm saying is that level design is a huge component in what makes classic DOOM fun. While the combat itself is simple, the way levels are designed require a very thoughtful approach, and make for a super unique and engaging experience. Of course this experience varies depending on each level, as some are more well designed than others, but you definitely feel it when you're playing a good level. If you want to aggressively run through levels while shooting everything on sight, then these might not be the right games for you, and that's okay because plenty of other games fill that niche. But if what I've been describing sounds interesting to you, then these games will definitely be worth your time.
Additional Points
I'd love to talk more about the positives of these games, but I'm running out of space in this review and I'd mostly be repeating stuff you could hear anywhere else. Yes the enemies are phenomenal, yes the arsenal is solid, and yes the music is great (I love the Andrew Hulshult remixes). Not everything is perfect; some levels make it too easy to avoid enemies or bait them out and slowly kill them near cover, the quality of levels can vary dramatically, the berserk powerup is very poorly communicated (seriously, I'd recommend looking up how it works), and there's some occasional frustrating jank due to technical limitations. But even with these issues in mind, the core of what makes classic DOOM fun still stands.
I think I'll always prefer the more aggressive combat of modern DOOM, or the verticality of Quake, but classic DOOM provides an incredibly unique experience that no other FPS I've played has provided. Dismissing it as primitive and dated is one of the biggest gaming sins that I've ever committed, and I hate that it took me three attempts to get it. But I'm so glad that I finally do.

My most favorite game of all time. Great game, great port.
When I first wrote my review you couldn't play with mods online but the latest update at time of editing did add this and is no longer an issue.
Also for those who are new to Doom mods: Brutal Doom and Myhouse.wad WON'T work on this port. Those rely on a source port like GZDoom or Zandronum to work. Anything ending in .pk3 won't work either.

The absolute best. Rip and tear, until it is done.
Military shooters are a dime a dozen. Hero shooter are more likely to crash and burn than not. Extraction shooters are just the latest fad. Doom on the other hand...
Doom is eternal.

DOOM:
4h48m
Genuinely holds up not that bad, if you don't mind no vertical aiming that is. Levels all feel unique and well designed. Solid game, lots of fun.
8/10
DOOM II:
5h57m
It's like DOOM but better in some ways and imo worse in some ways.
The better:
- Super shotgun
- More enemy variety
- No forced pistol start every episode
The worse:
- Maps are worse
- Archvile and Chaingunner
8/10
Master Levels for Doom II:
6h12m
This was a bad levelset, I thought DOOM II's levels were bad, but this takes the cake.
Too many of these levels require doing some super secret level shit in order to complete it (hidden walls, obscure buttons that you have no idea what opens when you press it, invisible platforms, ect.)
5/10
TNT: Evilution:
7h46m
This was definitely an improvement over Master Levels. None of the levels stood out to me as bad, some had minor issues but it wasn't too bad.
The biggest overall issue for me was the squishy enemy spam.
Every level had a stupid amount of imps, zombiemen, shotgunners and chaingunners. Also the final boss requiring you to be one step down despite that not being in line with the hole is very odd.
Besides all that it's basically just more Doom II.
7/10
The Plutonia Experiment:
6h22m
This was definitely the most fun classic doom experience so far. It was insanely difficult at times but the levels were a lot of fun. Some levels were complete dogshit tho like the Sewers level. But overall a good experience.
Probably my favourite of all the games included in DOOM + DOOM II.
9/10
No Rest for the Living:
1h57m
After playing Plutonia this felt like taking a stroll in a flower field. Not to say it isn't hard, or isn't good for that matter, just a lot slower.
This is a fun episode, the levels were pretty creative.
8/10
Sigil:
1h22m
I really enjoyed these levels, the new hidden buttons to shoot to open most secrets was refreshing from the usual wall humping.
The game being an expansion for UDoom means no super shotgun, which is a shame but at least it also meant no chaingunners or archviles.
It was a lot of fun with some extremely pretty set pieces, never seen levels this pretty in a classic doom game before, I am impressed.
8/10
Sigil II:
1h51m
Although this game is not one of the main titles, it is still an official Doom expansion, you just have to download it through the mod menu.
The maps had the same theme and atmosphere as the first Sigil, but they were just executed so much worse. Still wasn't horrible.
7/10
Legacy of Rust:
5h39m
Initially my opinions on this expansion were "It's worse than Master Levels for Doom II" but fortunately it was just the first few levels that really fucking stinked.
Genuinely the worst map I've ever played was E1M3, it was so bad I almost quit this entirely.
But after that level things got better, not amazing but better.
The last couple of levels in episode 2 were fun, mainly because they gave you a shit ton of fuel for the calamity blade.
6/10
Other notes:
All levels were completed on Ultra Violence.
Total completion time: 41h54m
Ranking of the games from best to worse:
1. The Plutonia Experiment
2. No Rest for The Living
3. DOOM
4. Sigil
5. DOOM II
6. TNT: Evilution
7. Sigil II
8. Legacy of Rust
9. Master Levels for Doom II

This is Doom. One of the most important and greatest video games of all time. It is flawless.

buy the game
install a Sourceport (like GzDoom)
use the wads given to you by buying the game
play
congrats now the very small minority of negative reviews is now negated

Great game but just an FYI devs this game is running on a phenom II x4 B95 and Quadro 4000 2GB GDDR5 card from nearly 15 years ago just fine so those requirements are something else lol